Members of the Yarcombe Young Farmers Club are celebrating after beating off stiff competition to be crowned the region’s biggest, and brightest, beefcakes by Synergy Farm Health.

Taking the prize was no mean feat. Throughout the summer, at agricultural shows across the East Devon, Somerset and Dorset region, Synergy Farm Health challenged clubs to cram as many members as possible into its Synergy cattle crush and onto the weigh plate, with a hog roast on offer to the heaviest club. Proving Young Farmers are a healthy mix of brain and brawn, members also had to identify injection points on the vet group’s tame fibreglass cow, Marlene, as part of the tie-breaker.

With the Yarcombe Young Farmers Club and Marshwood Vale Young Farmers Club both maxing out the scales at over two tonnes of prime farming stock, it was the tie-breaker that helped win the hog roast for the club. Jubilant in victory, the club haven’t decided where or when the hog will be roasted but may use it for a fund-raising effort in the coming months.

The initiative is the brainchild of Young Farmer and Synergy vet, Lucy Le Cocq who said “We were delighted to have so many Young Farmer Clubs getting into the spirit of things and taking up our challenge. We recognise that Young Farmers are the future of the industry, which is worth £1.4 billion in the South West. It’s important that they are supported in any way the industry can and are kept up to speed with the latest advances. The ‘weigh-in’ utilised our state-of-the-art mobile crush which we provide to farmers with a trained operative to handle cattle for vaccination combinations, TB testing, routine worming and parasite treatments. Part of the Synergy Para+ offer, it is a cost effective cattle handling and health planning service which is proving popular for farmers, young and old! While we didn’t need to carry out any parasite or worming treatments with the Young Farmers who came to be weighed some looked like they would benefit from a vaccination!”

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The weigh-ins took place at the four agricultural shows supported by Synergy Farm Health, Honiton Agricultural Show, Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show, Melplash Show and the Dorset County Show.

The Yarcombe Young Farmers Club will be presented with their Synergy Farm Health ‘Biggest Young Farmer Crush’ award by Jereme Darke, Director from Synergy Farm Health at The South West Dairy Show on Wednesday 5th October.